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damnedifIknow

(3,183 posts) Sat Nov 29, 2014, 03:11 PM Nov 2014

Ferguson really about police militarization

"Grand juries will indict a ham sandwich, but not a police officer"

SACRAMENTO — The grand-jury system dates back to King Henry II of England in the 12th century. But the most widely known fact about it comes from former New York Judge Sol Wachtler, quoted by author Tom Wolfe in 1987 saying “a grand jury would ‘indict a ham sandwich,’ if that’s what you wanted.” His point: grand juries are tools of prosecutors."

*It’s rare for officers to be charged in an on-duty killing. And even when charges are filed, officers are given protections other Americans are not granted. In California, the Peace Officers Bill Of Rights and union representation make it difficult for agencies to punish questionable on-duty behavior. The investigating agencies tend to be defensive of police who come under the microscope. It’s far different than when an average citizen is accused of a crime."

*After Fullerton officers beat and tasered an unarmed homeless man in 2011, the police department claimed the officers suffered broken bones, even though evidence later showed that to be false. The officers were even allowed to watch a video of the incident before filing their police reports. One writer, William Grigg, says it’s not about “white privilege” but “blue privilege.”

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/nov/28/ferguson-police-militarization-grand-juries-indict/?#article-copy

4 replies

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Ferguson really about police militarization (Original Post) damnedifIknow Nov 2014 OP

Good post! Wella Nov 2014 #1

K&R This is federally driven, bipartisan, and as much a part of the growing police state woo me with science Nov 2014 #2

Bookmarked the thread to keep track of this reply. Thanks woo! Scuba Dec 2014 #4

Needs a kick! BootinUp Nov 2014 #3

Wella

(1,827 posts)

1. Good post!

Reply to damnedifIknow (Original post)

Sun Nov 30, 2014, 03:21 AM

Nov 2014

And right on point.

woo me with science

(32,139 posts)

2. K&R This is federally driven, bipartisan, and as much a part of the growing police state

Reply to damnedifIknow (Original post)

Sun Nov 30, 2014, 09:59 AM

Nov 2014

as the mass surveillance, prison industrial complex, and assaults on journalism, other political protesters, and whistleblowers.

Corporate Republicans and the corporate Third Way are not just another flavor of politician within an essentially functioning representative government. They are ushering in fascism and dismantling democracy itself.

___________________________________________________________________________

The entire Democratic leadership opposed Grayson amendment to stop arming cops with DOD weapons
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025390424

WOW... Went Looking For Connections Between Ferguson And ALEC... Found This Piece Of The Puzzle...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025413841

The exploitation of Ferguson I: In 2013 the town issued over 24,000 arrest warrants..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025404667

The exploitation of Ferguson II: The Seamy Underbelly Of Ferguson Starts To Appear
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025416747

The exploitation of Ferguson III: Ferguson Feeds Off the Poor: Three Warrants a Year Per Household
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025428157

Police Militarization (including the Obama administration's role)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/aclu-police-militarization-swat_n_2813334.html

It's almost certain that if the police agencies cooperate, the ACLU will find that the militarization trend has accelerated since Kraska's studies more than a decade ago. All of the policies, incentives and funding mechanisms that were driving the trend then are still in effect now. And most of them have grown in size and scope.

The George W. Bush administration actually began scaling down the Byrne and COPS programs in the early 2000s, part of a general strategy of leaving law enforcement to states and localities. But the Obama administration has since resurrected both programs. The Byrne program got a $2 billion surge in funding as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, by far the largest budget in the program's 25-year history. Obama also gave the COPS program $1.55 billion that same year, a 250 percent increase over its 2008 budget, and again the largest budget in the program's history. Vice President Joe Biden had championed both programs during his time in the Senate.

The Pentagon's 1033 program has also exploded under Obama. In the program's monthly newsletter (Motto: "From Warfighter to Crimefighter&quot , its director announced in October 2011 that his office had given away a record $500 million in military gear in fiscal year 2011, which he noted, "passes the previous mark by several hundred million dollars." He added, "I believe we can exceed that in FY 12.”

Then there are the Department of Homeland Security's anti-terrorism grants. The Center for Investigative Reporting found in a 2011 investigation that since 2001, DHS has given out more than $34 billion in grants to police departments across the country, many of which have been used to purchase military-grade guns, tanks, armor, and armored personnel carriers. The grants have gone to such unlikely terrorism targets as Fargo, N.D.; Canyon County, Idaho; and Tuscaloosa, Ala.